Yesterday until today 2:30 PM PST, I was following a bid on a new camera/lens. It got awfully high so I paused and called a local dealer to see if they still had it and for how much. Yes! They were available and Nikon dropped the price recently by $150 Canadian. Good. So I ordered it and saved myself $200 when compared with the last ebay bid. Crazy!

I think part of it is people without much plastic credit, who can paypal right out of their bank account. Throw in the "bidding excitement" and it's a recipe for paying too much.

I've sold a lot of photo and audio gear on eBay when I outgrow it; it's generally far better than trading stuff in, though I've never sold anything wildly over its value; it does make me wonder if some stuff has a higher value to people outside of major urban centers (no pro photo or video stores nearby) who don't have the credit to shop on-line.